Trial date set for ex-Riverton High basketball coach accused of inappropriate relations with a student

A Dec. 9 trial date was set Monday for Courtney Jarrell, a former assistant basketball coach at Riverton High School charged with object rape, a first-degree felony, and forcible sex abuse, a second-degree felony, involving a 17-year-old student.

RIVERTON — A trial date was set Monday for a former Riverton High math teacher and basketball coach accused of inappropriate sexual relations with a 17-year-old student.

The trial for Courtney Jarrell will begin Dec. 9.

Jarrell, 22, is charged with object rape, a first-degree felony, and forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. She is accused of having relations with the teen between February and March of this year.

Although the teen was not on Jarrell's team, she testified that the two had something of a player-coach relationship. The girl spent some lunch breaks and class periods in the coach's classroom. Eventually, the teen testified, Jarrell wrote a note to her telling her that she had feelings for her. She allegedly showed the girl the note and then ripped it up.

The student testified that Jarrell said they needed to wait until she was 18 to have sex, but the teen told the coach she did not mind. They first had sex around the end of January or beginning of February, according to the girl.

Jarrell taught in the Jordan School District for just eight months when she was suspended after the district received a complaint about "inappropriate behavior," according to district officials.